Fires and other emergencies can occur in buildings and other structures that have occupants trapped at high elevations. In some emergency situations, conventional paths of egress, such as interior stairwells or fire escapes become blocked with fire or smoke, or are otherwise overloaded with evacuating occupants, thereby impeding the ability of other occupants to exit the structure in a timely fashion. Further, other occupants may not be able to use certain paths of egress due to physical impairments. In such cases, occupants that cannot exit the structure are forced to wait for rescue. Thus, there is a need for a reliable device for enabling the controlled descent of persons of a range of ages, weights, and abilities from high elevations during emergency situations.